March 10, 2017

De cattle just-taste

Dat High Court Ruling in Sin Lucia is welcoming, but frightening. It simply confirms de much talk-about Un-Just-taste system in SVG. Lie-Za saying dat is like yuh near-bah willfully tie his cattle in yuh garden, mek it eat down yuh whole crop ah corn; yuh dare not say or do anything bout it, because de owner done tell yuh de cattle ain’t eat all, “de cattle Just-taste!”
 

Which reminds me of de Swinging Party de King had two weeks ago. Everybody Jollyficating and singing “de King could live forever, but dey preparing foh Solomon, his successor.” Den all of ah sudden, bad news foh de King and his subjects coming out ah Sin-Lucia dis week. De King’s lucky numbers played; de clash of de “Sevens”: “Seven, March, two oh-one Seven!” It takes someone like Lie-Za to remind me of de fear-most Rebuke-her-never Party – oops, dat should be Nebuchadnezzar Party, when Love was in de Air, who ain’t high off ah lick-her, was high on de sacred herbs, miss Marie Warner. Den de mysterious writings appeared on de wall “Mene mene tekel upharsin,” in de Queen’s English: “Great King your days are numbered!” Ah teking everything in strides, dis is ah vic-tree foh “de rule of law in SVG” and dat is way ah happy bout. In de meantime, ah watching out foh me near-bah and she cattle, she not bringing it ‘over buy-us’ to eat down we corn, and den tell me no stupidness like “de cattle Just-taste” de corn.

AH BIG MEAL AT BIGGER
 

In all his troubles when de wicked ULP Go-venom-mint did close-down Bigger Bigs stone Crusher at Rabbacca, ah was wid him. Ah went to Rabacca wid Journalist, Kenton Chance who was wid Searchlight den. Ah crowd ah angry farmers stormed de site and blocked us in, dey made ah lot ah threatening promises before moving dey vehicles – dat was before Bigger was beaten. Since den Bigger opened de Phoenix, ah Poor Man’s Restaurant on Bay Street, opposite P.H. Veira. He kept inviting me to come sample his food: bakes and fry-fish, green banana and salt-fish, ah tried his bakes and fry fish, ah gave him ‘eight out ah ten’ and dat’s ah good mark because if is one thing ah know, is how to cook fish, so normally ah don’t eat fish away from home. Bigger now has ah Sunday Special, and is so he keep harassing me like how ULP did harass him. “Turn down de pot and bring yoh wife ah Sunday and try my Sunday Special,” he said. But ah ain’t worry wid Bigger Bigs.

So last Sunday, ‘water more than flour’ we headed foh de Phoenix – Bigger Bigs here we come. All de dove-pork and curry mutton was finished, de choice was chicken or fish. Chicken it was, and what ah lovely meal: ‘macaroni pie, vegetable rice, steam vegetables, raw carrots, tomato and lettuce, steamed sweet potato and dasheen, my kind ah dasheen – blue. Ah young staff of cute and courteous ladies. De food at Bigger Bigs was delicious, nutritious, very well presented and affordable. At $10. 00 foh ah Sunday meal it’s ah Deal. Ah think ah going back early next week before all de Dove Pork finish. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.